Toddler dies after touching electrified gate at carnival
INSIDE EDITION - A fun and carefree day at a carnival in Kansas took a tragic turn for one family whose little girl suffered serious shocks that ultimately took her life, authorities said.
Little Pressley Bartonek was swinging back and forth on a handrail when she was seriously shocked by a live wire at a carnival in the parking lot of Towne West Square in Wichita, her grandmother told The Wichita Eagle.
Since she was not big enough to join her mother and older sister in a bouncy house, the 15-month-old girl had busied herself by playing on the handrail in front of the ride, the paper reported.
Pressley’s father pried her off the handrail and emergency responders rushed her to the hospital.
The little girl died Wednesday afternoon, her family said in a statement.
“We have made the difficult decision to donate her organs so that other patients in need of transplants no longer have to suffer through their illnesses and that her death was not in vain,” the Bartoneks said through Wesley Medical Center, where Pressley had been taken.
They also requested privacy as they mourned their daughter.
“My heart and prayers are with you,” one person wrote on a GoFundMe page initially created to request prayers for Pressley.
“I could never imagine what you are going through. May God bless your family and give you all strength,” another person posted.
The equipment that shocked the toddler was found to be carrying 290 volts of electricity, Westar Energy officials told the Eagle.
The utility worker who was sent to the scene remained there until carnival staff members made the situation safe, a spokeswoman for the company told the paper.
Missouri-based Evans United Shows, which runs the carnival where the incident occurred, did not immediately return InsideEdition.com’s request for comment.